The How and Why
by Meljente
Summary: One day Peter Burke came home from work, only to find his wife talking with a long lost friend. Will the questions he has had for more than two years finally be answered? /After Finale OS


Hey guys,  
I know it's been a while since the series finale, but at first I didn't have time to write my idea and then I somehow forgot about it.I wrote this, because I read a few comments of reviews of the finale, where people said that Neal was OC and things like that. I just thought they didn't understand what they saw, and now I want to show you what I think happened and why Neal did what he did. I hope you like it :)

Finally I was home. It was 8 o'clock and I was two hours late. Hopefully El wasn't too angry with me, but I couldn't help it. DC called again, and tried coaxing me into taking a position there.

No matter what I do, my phone rings at least one a month displaying a number from Washington DC, and every time it does I come home late.

As I opened the door to my house I heard El taking to someone. Curiously I went to the kitchen, from where the voices came, what I saw left me standing speechless.

Before me stood a man I haven't seen in a long time, chatting with my wife as if there wasn't a nearly two year radio silence between them.

I wanted to say something, but El was faster and said: "Peter, you're late, we've been waiting."

But despite that she came and gave me a quick kiss.

"I'm sorry, I got a phone call from them. Again", then I turned my attention to the man.

"Why are you _here_?"

"I thought you could tell me", the man replied. Now I was really confused.

"Why should I know? You're the one coming suddenly to my house after two years!"

"I got a letter saying that I need to come today to your house that it's important I'm here. And there are only a few people that know where old Thursday is, Suite. So I came here, thought something happened, but it looks like that's not the case, so maybe it's better if I go."

He tried to leave, but I blocked his way.

"Mozzie wait", I said. "I didn't even know that you still use old Thursday, I thought you abandoned it after I was there. But we should find out who wrote you and why, so please stay."

"I told you to call me Teddy", he grumbled but did no longer try to leave.

Tense silence followed this statement, no one knew what to say or do. So we stood still until I heard a staircase creak, I spun around, weapon in my hand.

Neal was supposed to be in bed, and even if he did wake up, he couldn't get out of his bed, but somebody wanted us all to be here, so I was on high alert.

There was someone on the top of the stairs, his face hidden by the shadows.

I signalled El and Mozzie to stay behind and got into the living room.

"Hands in the air where I can see them", I growled, angry that this guy got into my home unnoticed.

To my surprise he complied immediately.

"Now come down here. Slowly! And tell me what you're doing in my house."

He made his way downstairs, somehow able to keep his face hidden from our view.

As he reached the stairs, he spoke for the first time.

"I came to tell you why"

El and Mozzie gasped. I myself was rooted to the place where I stood, still aiming my weapon at the person in front of me, unable to utter a word.

He couldn't be here, he _shouldn't_ be here.

Suddenly my wife ran past me, straight to the man und hugged him, with this my stupor broke. I put my gun away and went to the man. As I got nearer El broke away from him, one second I stood before him unsure of his intentions, the next I hugged him too and asked: "What are you doing here, Neal?"

He laughed shortly, and then looked behind me where Mozzie was.

"I missed you, and I wanted to tell you why I did what I did", he told us and took a step in Mozzies direction, not sure if his old companion would let him explain.

"I'm sorry Moz, I really am. But I had no other choice. I'm glad you did what I asked of you after you have learned that I'm alive."

Mozzie seemed to struggle, but in the end he went to the couch and sat down, which was the signal for us to do the same.

There I noticed that someone was missing. "Neal, where is Satchmo?" I asked, whereupon Neal looked a little sheepishly at me.

"I locked him in your bedroom. He was the only one who noticed me and I didn't want him to reveal my presence to you too soon."

"You locked Satchmo in?" El asked incredulous.

"Yes Elisabeth I did. He's asleep. But now I want to discuss more important matters.

First of all I want to apologize to you Peter. When I planned my con I thought I had planned everything that I had known everything that would happen. That everything went according to my plan. I – I _knew_ that Keller would maybe shot you. I took away one bullet so that he couldn't hurt you. But I never calculated a hostage in. I didn't want you to kill him, maybe hurt, but not kill. I'm so sorry that you had to do it because my plans weren't good enough."

"It's ok Neal"

I said and tried to reassure the man in front of me, the only one sitting on the chair not the couch, but he wouldn't let me talk.

"But Peter, I know you hate to kill people. And you had to because of me and my stupid con. Maybe I just should have stayed."

"Neal, stop it now!" I threatened him.

"The FBI wouldn't have set you free, they would have found another reason to keep you. Forever. No plan is without flaws, who knows, I could have killed Keller even if he had no hostage, just because he taunted me with him shooting you. I was angry and worried. I don't like hurting someone, even a criminal, but it's in my job description. And like you know, Keller wasn't the first do die because of me, I coped with it and you don't have to blame yourself."

For a few seconds Neal stared at me, before he muttered a "Thank you". Afterwards he explained his con. The paramedic and the doctor were actors, often paid by criminals to play witnesses or gather the attention of a crowd. He shot at the mannequin to have a bullet for evidence, and had a blood bag under his shirt, which the bullet destroyed. After Keller left with the money he took pufferfish toxin, the dose was low, so the symptoms came only slowly. When Mozzie and I visited his 'dead body' he was unconscious. Honestly I had figured most, after I saw the container, but I didn't want to interrupt Neal and it was nice getting a confirmation of my thoughts.

As my former CI finished, Mozzie asked:"But why did you leave me in the dark? I would have come with you Neal. You're my best friend"

Neal smiled a sad smile.

"That's the reason why. It would have been suspicious if you had disappeared after my death. I know you don't like it but the FBI knows you. They tailed you for months after my death, right? If you had known back then, they would have found out I'm alive.

Another reason was that I didn't want to destroy your lives."

"Our lives?" Mozzie questioned.

"Yes, yours, Peter's, Elisabeth's, even Diana's and Jones'" Neal answered and then explained.

"You Mozzie would have landed in prison sooner or later because of me. But with the _things I left behind_ you have built yourself a new life. A better life. You don't need to plan and make heists anymore.

And Peter you probably would have landed in prison too or at least get kicked out of the FBI because of me. DC would have made your life extremely hard, they just had to find out about the not so legal things you and the team did for and with me. I wanted a good life for all of you and that could only be accomplished with me leaving for good."

At the end of Neals speech we couldn't utter a single word. He left _for us_.

After a few minutes of silence, Neal cheekily asked: "So do you wanna know about the Bordeaux?"

My wife and I nodded.

"Mozzie, it's your turn."

And then Mozzie told us how he got a coded letter after nine month and then figured out his best friend was alive. And when I visited him that day and talked with him, he knew I was ready to know the secret. There was a message from Neal in the container, telling Mozzie to send me a bottle of Bordeaux. Instead he placed it on the stoop, the day he visited us. The bottle itself was my coded letter.

On one hand it should remind me of my second time arresting Neal, where he had a bottle Bordeaux in his hand and it should make me suspicious.

On the other hand it told me that Neal had found a better life. It should have told me that Neal did no longer need to refill an empty bottle, but could buy himself a new, full one. This hint I didn't get.

After all the explanations, Neal vanished for a minute upstairs and came back with a nice bottle of wine and a can of beer for me.

But before we could make Smalltalk, I had one last question burning on the tip of my tongue. How had he obtained his better life? Through honest work or white collar crimes?

And then I asked him.

"So Neal what do you do now?"

"Oh that's a funny story Peter, really. At first I steal things, and then I give it back and tell the owners how they can improve their security. See, I told you I wanted to be good, but I was born bad. I just couldn't stop conning."

 **A/N:** About the end, it couldn't imagine Neal still being this bad conman after all he went through with Peter, but I also couldn't completely ignore what Jeff Eastin said about him. So I took the middle course.

For everyone who is interested in what he said, here it is:  
"You know what, this is my universe that I created. I can do with it what I want," and it's much more fun to think that Neal is off robbing the Louvre than it is [to think about him being] settled down and living somewhere with his white picket fence. Neal is who he is. As I said before, he wanted to be good, but he was born bad, and at the end of the day, Neal's going to go do what he is the best at."  
(tv(dotcom) /shows/white-collar/community/post/white-collar-series-finale-neal-fakes-his-death-season-6-episode-6-au-revoir-141893512997/)


End file.
